Vessels configured to be sealed with a recloseable lid are, of course, well known. Threads or other engagement features are provided on the vessel in a region referred to herein as the “engagement feature band.” These engagement features have the functional purpose of being engageable with threads or other engagement features on the lid in such a way that the vessel is sealed and that the lid can be thereafter removed and then re-attached to the vessel as desired by, for example, twisting the lid on and off.
In one type of configuration, the engagement features in the vessel's engagement feature band include at least one holding element under which a lug, or other engagement feature, in the lid is slid when the lid is twisted, thereby providing the so-called “holding” function so as to tightly hold the lid tightly in place on the vessel.
Engagement features in the vessel's engagement feature band and/or in the lid typically provide at least two other functions. One of those is the “run-in” function, whereby engagement feature(s) in the lid are guided into position. Another is the “stopping” function, wherein the lid is stopped from twisting so much that its engagement features disengage from the vessel.
The holding, run-in and stopping functions are sometimes collectively referred to herein as the “engagement functions.”
The holding, run-in and stopping engagement functions are also in play where the engagement features are threads rather than lugs. The holding function is provided as a result of threads in the lid being interleaved among the threads on the vessel, preventing the lid from being pulled directly upward. The run-in function is provided by one or more of the threads on the vessel lying below the level of the top-most thread. And the stopping function is provided when the inner surface of the top of the lid is pulled increasingly downward as the threads in the lid advance through the threads on the vessel, to a point where the lid can be twisted no further.